The last two weeks have been a fun reprieve from the usual All-Star Game, as the Four Nations Face-Off was a massive success for the NHL. Flyers Travis Sanheim and Travis Konecny won the tournament with Team Canada, while head coach John Tortorella finished as the runner up as the bench boss of Team USA. However, it was back to business for the Flyers last Saturday with a little less than two weeks before the trade deadline.
They came out swinging by handily defeating the Edmonton Oilers in an eventful game. Sean Couturier’s 200th career goal, while Andrei Kuzmenko scored his first goal as a Flyer. The Flyers kept their foot on the gas on Tuesday for the first game of their home-and-home with the Pittsburgh Penguins, by demolishing them 6-1. While the Penguins certainly aren’t as good of a team as the Oilers, this thrashing was unexpected. They looked to continue the massacre on Thursday, but the Penguins got the better of them in the rematch, winning 5-4 in overtime.
The time off has certainly paid dividends early for some Flyers. They benefitted from some reinforcements, as Owen Tippett, Egor Zamula, Ryan Poehling, and Rasmus Ristolainen returned to the lineup following injuries and all had positive impacts. In these three games, Tippet has 4 goals and Ristolainen has 2. Noah Cates has also looked exceptional as the Flyers shutdown center, as he successfully kept Connor McDavid off the scoresheet while also potting a few goals of his own. However, the player who might have benefitted the most from the extended time off was Matvei Michkov, as he is not just fully adjusted to the grind of an 82 game season. The crown jewel of the Flyers re-tool (no, it’s not a rebuild) has been the most noticeable player for the Orange and Black in the last few games. In just the last three games, he racked up 8 points (3 goals, 5 assists) to reclaim his spot atop the rookie goals and points total leaderboards.
However, it hasn’t been all sunshine and roses. The second Pittsburgh game was particularly embarrassing to lose after having a commanding 3-0 lead. Michkov and Brink losing their defensive assignments directly led to two Pittsburgh goals, including the winner. In addition, they lost Garnet Hathaway to injury after a bad hit to the head. There’s no excuses to be made to let a Penguins team that was all but dead in the water come back and win that game.
Hoping to put this bad loss in the rearview mirror, the Flyers now turn to Winnipeg, who they will play twice this week. With the trade deadline only a week away and the Flyers seven points back from the wildcard spots in the East, it would take a Herculean effort for them to make it with how much of a dogfight the playoff race is. Nevertheless, it is important for them to finish strong as we head into the final stretch of the season.
By: Katie Bogan (@cl4udegiroux)
photo credit: Getty Images
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